


RottenTale

by Vsvrx



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 19:13:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13887339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vsvrx/pseuds/Vsvrx
Summary: Idkw but my writing style changed drastically so have fun with that.





	1. Prologue

Something about the yellow petals that twisted in the air was breathtakingly beautiful. They lofted down, carried by the tiniest remnants of a breeze, seemingly gold in what little amount of light made it this far underground. As they fell, it's easy to imagine how someone's eyes could trail after them, as calming as their lazy decent was. Sliding down an immeasurable distance, meeting the pale blue columns that reached as far as just below the gaping hole that served as the entry way, so many miles above the golden bed of flowers the petals had come from. Their base however, ended just within the shadows at the base of the cavern.

Their placement was almost surreal, it was an unnatural beauty so far away from any other signs of life. Such beautifully crafted columns, and such an impressively well kept garden didn't just appear in any cavern, without signs of life to keep them.

But I'm getting sidetracked. This story isn't about the beauty of the landmarks, hidden so far underground, but what resided directly in the centre. In the bed of buttercups.

And in that bed of golden flowers? Lay a girl, not much older then sixteen at the least, who was in a fairly fragile sleep. So fragile, it seemed, that one of those petals landing on her nose was enough to stir her. Her face twitched, the sensation irritating her.

When her eyes reluctantly flickered open, she saw a girl perched above her, if only for a second. In her dazed state, she didn't have the energy to react, and she blinked her eyes again, seeing nothing but a light from far above, not noticing the whisps of smoke left from the character. Her eyes were still adjusting after all.

With a groan, the girl urged her aching muscles to brush the petal from her face, that being the best she could muster before she realised, in fact, that her muscles were aching. Terribly. As the pain, which was slowly growing sharper as her mind woke up, grew to a point where it's intensity couldn't be ignored, she gasped. The intake of breath itself was so sharp that it stung her throat, and tears budded in her eyes, which were squinted so tight in her pain that the colour was impossible to make out.

A small whimper passed her lips, but even that stirred up even more pain in her back. As she lay there, for who knows how long, all she could do was try take her mind off the suffering. But even that was a stretch for her groggy mind.

Soon, blackness ate away at the world again, and if she could have been, the girl would have been thankful for the numbness that overtook her once again.

What could have been anything between several minutes, to even days later, the girl stirred once again.

She took a while to make sense of her situation, blinking and staring up at the spot of light in the distance as she regained her senses. Eventually, when she was satisfied with that, she turned her head to the side, training herself on the shadows. Letting her eyes adjust, her mind begun to take note of the rocky walls surrounding her.

Turning her head the other way, she noticed a figure hidden in the shadows.

"Oh. You're awake." The girl clung to the voice before she could make out any real defining features of the figure. It was a female, by the sounds of it, who didn't seem that much older then the girl in the flower bed. Her voice was smooth, silky, yet it was deep for a females. And it had a... you could say, sexy... tonality to it. At the moment, the figure sounded quite bored. She was, as it were, just stating a fact.

The girl in the flower bed watched the mystery figure approach her from the shadows, noticing the little heart shaped... thing that floated just before her chest. Not that she had anything to base it off, as she'd never seen anything quite like it before, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the dimly glowing object seemed... poorly. It looked like it was meant to be a sky blue in colour, but the additions of a violent purple and puke green made it seem... well rotten was the best way to describe it. It was even cracked in places.

The sight of it made Frisk feel uneasy.

...Yes. That was the girl's name. Frisk.

As Frisk studied the little heart, barely taking notice of the girl who trailed behind it, the girl spoke again. This time, she sounded less bored, a slight, almost taunting edge to her tone.  
"You took quite a fall there." She broke herself off with an airy chuckle. "If it weren't for those flowers..." her voice trailed off, and she absentmindedly let her gaze travel to Frisk's chest.

For a second, she felt violated by it, before her own eyes made their way there as well. Floating above her, rotating ever so slowly, was a Ruby coloured heart, much like the thing that floated in front of the mystery girl.

Well, with a few key differences. For one, the glow and colour was much more vibrant and full of life then that of the rotting monstrosity a few meters away. It also was crack free, which Frisk felt instinctively grateful for. The surface looked smooth, almost glistening, while the mystery girls looked almost dry. Frisk felt, given the chance, she'd be apprehensive to touch it.

In all, she felt a childish surge of pride that her... thing, whatever it may be... was much more appealing then that of the mystery girl.

"Determination." The mystery girl muttered to her self after an insufferable stretch of silence, deep in thought. Frisk, who had just mustered the courage to try sit up, was relieved to notice most of the pain was gone. Not all, but most. Enough for her to move without too much trouble, at least. Opening her mouth to speak, she tried to force the words out, but they came out as a strangled mess more then words. She hadn't spoken in who knows how long.

Embarrassed, Frisk swallowed before trying again.  
"W-what?" Still, her voice cracked under the strain, but it was enough. The girl, who had been stalking towards Frisk with movements not unlike those of a cat hunting it's prey, stopped dead. Almost like snapping out of a trance, her narrowed eyes widened and she shook herself off.

"Oh what? Nothing." The playful tone seemed awkward and unnatural at first, but with the embarrassed giggle that followed, Frisk eased into it more. As both grew distracted, the heart slowly phased back into Frisk, but besides the chill it gave her, she didn't notice. "I'm sorry. My name is Chara." As soon as the friendly tone came, it was gone, and Chara was speaking in the same heavy, bored drawl as before.

You wouldn't have heard it if the ensuing awkward silence weren't so relentless, but there was the tiniest sound of splintering in the air, and both girls snapped their attention towards the one soul left in the open. Chara grimaced, her right eye twitching in an irritated tick.

"Are you ok?" Frisk asked, her unusual kindness peaking past her curiosity. Chara turned to her in a snap, the beginnings of a scowl twisting her face in a way that was tremendously off putting, before she paused, taking a deep breath.  
"Far from it." Chara muttered, venom was in her tone, but only just.

Frisk, who only just noticed that Chara had taken a few good steps into the light, took the opportunity to study her from the ground up.

The first thing Frisk noticed was the shoes. They were brown and tattered, resembling a more comfortable type of converse. A hybrid between the name brand and running shoes. Next, where the black socks that just peaked out of the top of the shoes, and then the pale, thin legs. Above that, was a pair of shorts, the same colour brown as the shoes, not that dissimilar to Frisk's own hair colour. As Frisk studied Chara, she noticed the girl was fairly average sized, with a skinny frame hidden under her sweater. The sweater itself was a deep, royal purple, with a fat yellow stripe running horizontally around the middle. It bunched up in a turtleneck, just above the petite girl's shoulders. Her hair was ratty, unkept to the point that it was long, curling in a way that gravity wouldn't allow neat hair to do. A large chunk of hair even covered a good half of Chara's face, obscuring the entire left side - To clarify, her left- but the style seemed purposeful as she was yet to make a move against it. Her hair was a pretty colour too. The best way to describe it would be a soft, mellow brown.

There was one unnerving thing about the girl though, which gave Frisk chills as soon as she noticed them. Chara's eyes (or well, the visible one at least), was a red as vibrant as the heart that had floated above Frisk's chest not too long ago. It left her in awe. She's never seen something so... so... words escaped her.

"Come on anyway." Chara spoke suddenly, coaxing Frisk out of her staring. The girl, who was still sitting in the flowers, blinked her eyes hard before nodding.  
"Do you know a way out of here?" She asked, standing up and following Chara into the shadows.  
Frisk swore she saw Chara disappear in a puff of smoke before appearing a little ways down the path a second later, but blamed it on standing up too quickly. A silence dragged on for a while before Chara answered, not turning around.  
"Kind of."

Frisk made her way down the hallway, her shoes making a damp thump against the stone ground as she followed Chara, who's own steps were soundless. Chara herself had stopped not far from a doorway of sorts, beckoning Frisk calmly. Frisk, who's legs were still a bit unsteady under her weight, let out a little whine.

"Can I have a second please?" The little amount of effort she'd put into getting this far had already tired her out, and when Chara turned around she was hunched over herself, supporting herself by resting her hands on her knees. She could hear the deep breaths from the other side of the room and sighed, nodding.

She didn't have much time, but Patience was certainly something Chara was famous for. Plus, she needed Frisk to be in the best health she could be. That was beyond necessary.  
"Take all the time you need." Though her voice was calm, Frisk detected the slight begrudging tone and felt bad for holding this mystery girl up.  
After a minute of forcibly rushed recovery, Frisk stood upright, stretching before pushing herself to jog to Chara's side.  
"Ok I'm good." She offered with a smile.

The red-eyed girl took a second to study Frisk again, before nodding. Her voice was fairly higher then Chara's own, childish in a way but still certainly the voice of a teenager. Maybe it was the natural friendliness to the tone, but it soothed even Chara's rottenness, if for a small moment. The small heart next to her even glowed the tiniest bit brighter.

Yes, Chara thought with a curt nod. Yes this will work well. Frisk looked so friendly, so easy to trust. Chara could work with that.

Making up her mind, Chara wondered into the next room with a newfound sense of certainty. Frisk, on the other hand, let out anothertiny whine before catching up to the other girl. All she wanted was to sit down, honestly. As mentioned, most of her pain had subsided but her body still ached in protest to the amount of excitement going on.

Still in a daze, and having seen it enough times out of the corner of her eye for it to be new, Frisk barely reacted when Chara surged forward, leaving a puff of billowing, coloured smoke in her wake. Instead, she just thought it was cool as the girl appeared a few meters ahead of where she was previously. Frisk found herself wondering if Chara could only move short distances like that, or if the red eyed girl was actually waiting for her. She found herself feeling grateful either way. This wasn't the kind of place she'd want to be alone in. Both thoughts were wrong of course, and Chara hissed mutely as her physical form flickered again.

Stepping into the next cavern, Frisk found herself studying the shadows before looking to the middle. It's so dark down here. She thought, thankful for the pinprick of light that cascaded down to just before her. There, Frisk had to blink a few times to be sure, was a single golden flower, a lot like the ones from the previous cavern, but well... a great deal larger, double their size at the very least. And of course, the most disturbing thing about it, it's face.

Large eyes, that dark a brown they almost seemed black, stared at Frisk with nervous apprehension. Or... more the spot next to Frisk. The flower stared at Chara and at the weird thing bobbing in the air around her in what could be described as fear almost. The mouth, which had two  sharp points at either end that almost resembled teeth in a way, was trembling and the petals of the flower shook as it seemed traumatised. Frisk wanted to hug the poor thing, but couldn't bring herself to move either.

Eventually, the flower snapped out of it and seemed to gulp.  
"H-hiya." His voice was shaking just as much as the flower itself, and Frisk felt so... sad for it. Flicking a glance to Chara, Frisk saw how dangerously narrowed her eye was and it gave her chills. The tension between the two was indescribable.

In the silence, three more splinters rang through the air in quick succession, Chara's little heart flashing in the air as it cracked, and she fell to the ground with a sharp cry.  
"C-Chara!" The flower cried in shock, but Chara managed to send him a fierce glare through her pain. He shrunk back, at a loss for what to do, and Frisk seemed just as awkward. Not knowing what to do, she watched with wide, terrified eyes as Chara writhed in pain, clutching her chest as tears budded in her eyes. There was something off about the tears, as they were pure black, but Frisk didn't dwell on them as Chara gritted her teeth and eventually rose to her feet, batting away Frisk's hand as she snapped to her senses and went to help.

"You know why I'm here." Chara growled, jutting her head in a way that she was looking down her nose at the flower. He nodded, his big eyes sad as he shrunk into himself.  
"I- I do." The flower squeaked. He opened his mouth as if he was going to say more, but thought better of it, instead looking at Frisk.

"You must be mighty confused," he cooed, giving the girl an apologetic smile. "You see that thing there?" The flower nodded to Chara's little... heart, and frisk nodded. "Well that there's a soul." The longer the flower seemed to neglect Chara, the more confidence he gained. Though he didn't seem exactly happy with the situation, as he spoke he slowly stopped trembling.

"You should have one too." The little flower chirped and Frisk thought back to the little red soul that was floating above her chest when she woke up. She was at a loss for how to bring it forward, and the flower seemed to sense that. A green vine unearthed itself gingerly, reaching up to an inch or so away from Frisk's chest before she stepped back, crossing her arms protectively over herself.

"Drop your arms." Chara's thick voice wasn't quite harsh, but it did have an unwelcome edge to it that made both Frisk and the flower flinch. In all honestly they'd both forgotten she was there for a moment. Frisk looked at Chara, who was watching with a disapproving glare, and noisily let her arms fall to her sides. The flower took a shaker breath before trying again, muttering a quick: "I won't hurt you" before the vine once again reached for Frisk.

The girl let out a startled gasp. Instead of stopping at her skin, or even puncturing it, the vine passed right into Frisk's chest cavity, wrapping around something deep inside her before pulling itself out. The sensation was somewhat familiar to pulling two attracted magnets apart, and Frisk gasped again as her red soul emerged, glowing bright enough that some of the shadows gave way to its red glow.

The flower felt even worse as he studied the soul. It was so healthy. So pure. Not a crack to be seen. Such a stark contrast to the dying one off to the side. Flowey didn't want to go through with this. He couldn't. Not anyone, let alone someone as pure as this.

But Chara on the other hand, didn't have such reservations. She stared at the soul with hungry eyes, greatly resisting the urge to snap it away that second. Taking a deep breath she concentrated on the soul so intensely that she could see it even after her eyes had closed. She still had some magic left in her soul, and had been saving it for years. For this very moment actually.

Flowey, still holding the soul, began to cry, apologizing profusely as Frisk stood, not noticing them. She was so in awe of the glow of her soul. That just made it so much worse. A tight, inescapable ring of white bullets manifested around the heart, closing in slowly. Flowey didn't want to do this. He didn't. He didn't. He didn't want to hurt anyone. As he squeezed his eyes shut, sobs and hiccups pouring out of him, he found himself he'd never found Chara, and never ended up so indebted to her. None of this would have been happening otherwise.

Chara, on the other hand, kept her cool. A small smile even wound its way onto her face. After so much waiting she could finally... the thought made her ecstatic. She knew exactly what to do, and, at just the right second, her eyes sprung open in time to see Frisk's soul split in half. She lunged forward, wrapping her hand around the closest half and the cavern flashed a blinding red.

...

  
...

  
...

  
Sans had been asleep at the time. He spent a lot of his free time that way, so it wasn't odd that he was sleeping during midday. As much as it angered his older brother, Papyrus, sans just couldn't muster the energy to... well... give a shit.

But, as he dreamed, he was pulled away from the usual fruits of his mind. He'd been playing, as a younger version of himself, in a laboratory with a very close friend of his. He hadn't seen her in a while, and he was disgruntled to say the least as his nostalgic dream was stolen from him. Instead, he found himself in what could only be described as a void. Endless black stretched forever, in every direction. It would have been impossible to tell what was up or down if not for the stable- yet invisible- surface beneath the skeleton's feet.

In the blackness, Sans was almost amazed that he could still see his hands in front of him as clearly as he would anywhere else. So, there was some kind of light source at least, though it refused to make itself visible. But Sans could see, and that was enough. And as he peered out into the void, the endless, rolling expanse of darkness, something that was no more of a pinprick of red light made itself known in the distance.

He cocked his head to the side, just barely, before walking in that direction. As he walked, his mind was in critical overdrive. God damn stupid mind cooking up these stupid ass dreams. What the fuck is this anyway.  
Having finally made his way to the thing that was causing the glow, a shocked gasp passed his teeth and cut of his analytical thoughts.

A half soul floated in the air, its glow flickering weakly. Even red in colour, it resembled a cartoon broken heart down to every crack. Sans, worried for whoever' soul this belongs too's well-being, started looked around rapidly for whoever could be missing it.

  
...

......

..........

...............

 

 

No one.

 

  
He was alone here.

Of put and cautious, Sans turned back to the soul, with nothing else of interest around him.  
"Hey little buddy," he croaked, his hands hovering an inch away from it. "What are you doing here?"

When sans got no answer, he felt a bit stupid. Of course the soul wouldn't reply. It was a soul. They may be the culmination of a monster's being, but they weren't nearly sentient enough to speak.  
Actually, as Sans studied the soul, he noticed something that had been bugging him. The soul was upside down, and if he didn't know better, he'd say it looked like a human's soul.

But that's crazy.

Ok, now I really wanna wake up.

Sans, finally deciding that no harm could come to him in a dream, and with nothing else to do anyway, reached out to the soul.

And just- just before his bony fingers could grace its surface, the void around Sans warped slightly. It was hard to explain. The terrain didn't change in any way, shape or form, but sans defiantly wasn't in the same spot he was earlier. He could feel it. He... he'd been moved somehow.

Weird, seeing as he hadn't teleported.

The injured soul still hovered underneath his fingers, which sans was oddly thankful for. This was something he was reluctant to loose. Plus, it was a company here, where it seemed beyond lonely.

As Sans tried pointlessly to make sense of what the hell was happening, the soul pulsated in a way that was hypnotizing. This time, he didn't get sidetracked by the void warping around him, nor did he hesitate as his hand seem to grab for the soul in slow motion. Suddenly and finally, his hands clasped around the shape, and the soul was absorbed into him.

...

Sans awoke with a start, a surplus of energy snapping him awake. With a loud gasp, he jolted upright, bringing a hand to his tingling left eye socket. A feeling almost like static energy washed over his hands, and he sprung out of his bed, running to the closest mirror. What sans saw was... amazing. Magic spewed out of his left eye, but it wasn't the usual sky blue. In fact, it was difficult to make out what colour it was, as the stream was inconstant. Blue and red magic spilled out together, occasionally blending into a royal purple.  
"That's new." He found himself muttering aloud. But it wasn't even the magic to which he was referring, but the glowing red heart shape that rested in the centre of his Iris.

Unlike most stories he'd heard though, only his left eye socket had the heart within it, the right one just as black-and-white as always.

Curious, Sans decided to try call his soul out, to study it. When he did, he narrowed his eyes at what accompanied it. Sure, his usual sky blue soul floated before his chest, the familiar upside-down heart shape of all monster souls. But a new addition floated just to the side, in a cage of swirling purple magic. The red soul, from Sans'... odd dream.

"What the-"  
"SANS! WAKE UP!" At the sound of Sans' older brother, he looked around frantically before shoving the souls back in their spot, straightening out his clothes before he stumbled unceremoniously out of the bathroom, nearly falling on his face before he caught his balance.

Papyrus turned around, shocked at the noise, but seemed even more shocked to see Sans up and about.

"Oh." The giant of a skeleton muttered, his expression blank for a second as he lowered the hand raised to sans door. He looked like he'd been ready to beat it down. After a moment, his eyes narrowed playfully. "What were you doing in there brother?" His voice had that usual teasing tone to it, and Sans stared up at his brother, his jaw slack. The sly suggestion in Papyrus' voice set Sans' cheekbones ablaze.

"Papyrus!" He almost whined, voice breaking in his defense. "Don't be so gross." He'd almost forgotten about the soul already, calm in his brother's presence. The usual banter ensued, and Papyrus dragged his younger brother down the stairs with confident gusto. As they both sat at the table, eating Papyrus' latest home cooked meal, Sans mind kept traveling to the immense amount of power he felt coursing through his thin frame, and he flexed his hands to ease some tension.  
...

  
...

 

 

  
An.

So uh... you found my AU. Amazingly enough, all of this was written over the course of 24 hours.

This is a story that I've been plotting for a while now, and while I have the gist of where I want the story to go, I still have a ways of pulling words out of my arse before this is anything to be proud of. Also, as I sort things out, I'm not really sure how long it will take me to get chapters out, so bare with me.

I don't know WHY I'm being so professional in my note, but that seems to be the mood I'm going for today. Maybe it's because I haven't been home in nearly two weeks.

Now, I know I'm rambling, but if you ever want to see the (frankly forgettable) art and designs of the characters and stories, I DO have a tumblr account (vsvrx.tumblr.com), and might even start doing digital pieces as header images in the near future. But for now, I hope you enjoy.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idkw but my writing style changed drastically so have fun with that.

 

Five months had passed. Five god damn months. It all went to shit so quickly. As soon as Sans saw that half soul in the void he should have known nothing good would follow. Two days after he'd absorbed the thing, a human child made her way out of the ruins. She seemed sweet enough but... something was so horribly off.

At first, Sans thought he was the only one that noticed, especially seeing as his big brother had started fawning over the child instantaneously. Sans thought he was just being stupid. He'd always been apprehensive around people. It came with anxiety. But... some of the things she said, were all just that slight bit off.

 

  
Sans had picked up on all of them.

  
And the way she eyed him, so hungrily... Sans shivered whenever he thought of it, even months later.

But as time went on, and the child made her way through the underground, more and more monsters started to fawn over her. No one knew anything was wrong. Until eventually, the girl had made her way to the castle and... and she'd...

  
Anyway, all thanks to her the underground was in ruins. She'd taken it upon herself to rule after that, and ever since everything had ended in chaos. No one noticed really, not at first. The first month was the development of the downfall. She seemed to be setting things up. The royal guard was whittled down to just the Dogs, and they were spread fairly thin through the underground, with the exception of Papyrus. Chara had come down to Snowdin one day and asked him personally to be the head of guard.

When he turned her down, saying that Undyne was in charge, Chara had just sighed. "I didn't like her attitude." Was all she had offered in ways of explanation, and after a few days of very careful consideration, Papyrus had finally taken the position.

Sans didn't see him again for months. Luckily, Undyne, the fierce warrior she was, stormed to the Skeleton's house in all of her job-avenging fury and quite literally kicked the door down, startling the hell out of poor Sans who was withering away at the dining table. He'd never learned how to cook, and with Papyrus gone and a severe bout of anxiety towards the outside world, he'd been letting himself waste away at home.

A few course words and rushed apologies later, Undyne had managed to coax Sans into a state of comfort, even going into the kitchen to make some food for him. She'd made a joke along the lines of "you need some meat on your bones." and Sans was dumbstruck before bursting into laughter.

The one good thing to come from this entire mess was Sans' cursed anxiety was finally, more or less, gone. He'd made friendships and ally's, going as far as making a resistance for the people with Undyne when things got worse. His crippling handicap was gone and he and Undyne were thick as thieves, and the two most powerful assets on the team.

Sans didn't feel the need to hide his power from his friend, though he didn't quite know how to explain how he'd gotten so dangerously... awesome. Undyne never really asked about his eyes, though he knew she was curious. Plus, Sans had always had potential, according to his brother, and one shot of his new Blasters blew those old words of comfort out of the water.

He could protect himself now.  
And he could protect others too.

That power had made him grow very confident very quickly.

Even now, he sauntered down the snowed in streets of Snowdin, waving, winking and flirting with everyone he passed. He was a celebrity here and he loved it. Everyone adored him, and he ate it right up.

  
Well. There was an exception.

 

A blunt pain ran through Sans' leg and he stumbled backwards, having bumped into something. Looking down, Sans saw it was none other the the scowling face of Monsterkid, whom Sans had taken a liking to calling RottenKid, seeing as he was a little shit.

"Undyne is looking for you." The armless reptile ordered curtly, craning his neck to look up at Sans. RK was just tall enough to pass Sans' hip bones, so the distance between them was pretty incredible. He sometimes had to take a few steps back so he could glare up at Sans with all his impractical fury.

Sans chuckled a just-my-luck sort of chuckle to himself before he smirked.  
"I already know, Runt. " Sans' deep voice was smooth as honey as he teased the smaller monster, which resulted in a tiny growl. He leaned down so he was almost eye level with the small monster. "Why do you think I'm on my way home?"  
"How many times do I have to tell you to not call me that!" RK spat, not dignifying Sans with any other reply. He hated being called a runt. He was the smallest of all his siblings and he heard no end of the teasing from his older sister. Sans knew, of course. But he was just an asshole like that.  
"Not enough apparently." Sans had a shit eating grin on his face as he made his way to the largest house in Snowdin, his and Undynes head quarters so to speak, making a point to step directly over the top of RK. He loved teasing the kid, although it normally didn't end well for either of them.

Sure enough, after Sans had taken a few steps to his destination, a sharp pain in the back of Sans' leg made him cry out, and he turned around, gaping at Rottenkid, who was hanging off the bone by his teeth.  
"Ow! Why would you- ffffff-uh-huh-huh!" Kicking his leg to free himself, Sans lifted his leg in a way that he could see the damage. "Why?!" He cried, gesturing to the where the damage was. Not that he could see it through the baggy pants he was wearing, but he could sure feel it. The bite would heal soon enough, but it still wasn't exactly something he was pleased with. He was perched on one leg now, and didn't look much different to a flamingo with the way he was standing.

Not that he knew what that was anyway.

"He told you to stop calling him Runt didn't he?" The gruff voice of Undyne rang through the clearing and Sans raised a brow. Turning around and looking up at her, his usual smirk turned to a grin. She stood at the top of the steps leading to the Big House, one of her hands resting on the overly thick tan belt around her waist. Her long red hair was tied in a high pony tail (which in its current style was long enough to reach the back of her knees) and a generous amount spilled out over her left eye, covering the black eyepatch hidden there. Her large, pointed teeth were glinting as she flashed Sans with an amused smirk which took up almost half her face.

"Well maybe if he grew a bit more I'd be able to stop." Sans chided back, cupping his hands around his mouth as he called to his friend, putting his foot down so he was standing normally. RottenKid let out another tiny growl before head butting Sans with enough force to knock him over and into the snow. Sans gasped, not expecting it, and RK just poked his tongue out at the skeleton. He made a childish nnmmm sound as he did it too.

A few onlookers chuckled at their banter as they passed and Sans chuckled, giving them a wave before flopping back in the snow lazily.

Undyne took a long moment to watch Sans before closing her eye, shaking her head and sauntering towards him. As she passed MonsterKid, she rested a webbed hand on his head and he beamed up at her before scurrying away.

"Ever your biggest fan." Sans grumbled. One benefit of the half soul was that the added magic allowed him to better show his emotions, so he managed his best of a toothy pout, arms covered over his chest.

"It's cause I'm the Hero of the Underground baby!" Undyne exclaimed playfully, holding a hand out for the skeleton. He reached up for it and let Undyne do the work. Her being as strong as she was and he not really having much weight to begin with, he was pulled right off the ground for a second and Undyne grabbed both his shoulders before setting him on his feet again.

"So you wanted to see me?" Sans asked as he dusted the snow off himself, not looking up from his work.  
"Oh yeah, I was gonna go Dumpster Diving and wondered if you wanted to tag along with me." That was enough to get Sans' attention, and he looked up to Undyne with a gleam in his eyes. He could feel the red heart in his eye pulsate as it reacted to his excitement, something that had taken him a long while to get used too.

"Just gotta make Phillis and Iilia know they have patrol duty while we're gone and then we're good to go." Sans didn't even bother to mask his excitement and he pumped his fist with a hearty: "YES!"

He hadn't gone Dumpster Diving in ages! Sure, it had only been a month but it felt like forever.

"I'll get Phil!" Sans practically yelled and disappeared in a pop. Undyne shook her head and chuckled, heading in the direction of Iilia's house.

Sans had, in his excitement, forgotten basic laws of common courtesy and instead of appearing on Phillis' porch, had managed to teleport directly into the poor monster's lounge room.  
"You got patrol duty SUCKA!" Sans yelled, bursting out laughing when Phillis jumped a foot in the air.

The monster was wolf-like in appearance, standing on two short, stubby legs. It was almost comical, seeing as his upper half was practically swollen with muscle. He usually threw ice in the river to cool down the CORE, a job that he did even after everything had gone to shit, but was occasionally called in for shifts like this.

He was big and intimidating and, as they found out once, the Dogs were beyond unwilling to pick a fight with him. While The Seekers of the Sun didn't have much else in ways of combat besides Sans and Undyne, they defiantly found ways to make do when they had to leave for duties such as this.

A mix between a whine and a growl came from Phil, and his ears flattened against his head.  
"Don't do that!" The wolf-man complained, resting a large paw over his furry chest. Sans, who had just barely calmed himself from his laughing fit, chuckled.  
"Sorry big guy." He offered, resting a hand on the gentle giant's back.

"But I got Dumpster Duty and I've been dying for some new loot." Phillis himself chuckled at that and he rested a paw (which was roughly the size of Sans' skull) on the Skeleton's shoulder. Sans stumbled under the weight of it as Phillis leaned close to where Sans' ears would be if he had them, and whispered in his deeper then deep voice.  
"Be sure to bring me back some new videos." When he leaned back, his hearty laugh was enough to make the entire building shake. Phillis had the largest VHS collection in the Underground, stacks from floor to ceiling covering his entire back room. He didn't watch them, nor did he seem to care if he had more then one of the same thing (going by his 8 copies of Dumbo and 12 of The Goonies). He just liked having them. A lot of them were from before everything happened, when he could freely go to Waterfall whenever he liked, but now he had to wait on Sans and Undyne to leave for the dump so he could rack in any of his beloved tapes.

Sans nodded and ran out of the Wolf's house, waving before he teleported into his own room. He was too excited for manners. As he darted around his room, teleporting from his bed to his closet, and from there to his bed again, it was quite obvious. Suddenly growing frustrated in his search, he let out a cry.

His magic enveloped everything in the room, lifting it all separately so he could find his prize.

Eyes finding his goal, he finally pulled out his large rucksack from its place under his clothes, which had been dumped unceremoniously into a pile over it during the past month. Without his magic he would have never found it.

Unzipping the bag and emptying it in a hurry - a few toy cars with missing parts and random blocks of Lego fell onto his bed - he teleported down to the base of the stairs outside. He gave Undyne, who had already been waiting, a massive grin and she rolled her eye at him, shaking her head.

"You're incredible." It wasn't a compliment, but Sans chose to take it as one anyway.  
"I know I am." He shot her a playful wink and Undyne sighed explosively, giving him a whack on the back of his skull. That just made the skeleton laugh as he ran a bit further ahead of her.

Always such a kid. Undyne thought fondly, desperately trying to keep down the smile on her face, but giving up when Sans couldn't see her anymore. It was hard to explain the love they felt towards eachother. It was far from romantic. And simply friends just didn't cut it.

But maybe... family was a good way to put it.

  
Suddenly, as Undyne made her way past Sans, she gasped as he fell over backwards. When she made her way next to him, she fell to his side. This wasn't normal. He didn't ever just... just collapse like this.

"Sans you idiot you better not be dead." Undyne growled, grabbing his arm and shaking him. It was a good 10 seconds more before he stirred, and sat up. Rubbing his skull, he frowned up at Undyne.  
"You're crying." Was all he said after a long while and she growled, pushing him back into the snow, furiously wiping at the rebellious tear that had managed to run free.

"It's only because you didn't actually die." She shot at him, not looking at him, and he chuckled, running a gloved hand down his face. Sitting up again, he teleported to just in front of her. He did that a lot.

"I dunno what happened." Sans explained, walking backwards as he watched Undyne's face. "I was waiting for you to hurry your fishy ass up and I just blanked out." He grinned as he spoke, and she just rolled her eye at him.

"You know if your gonna be such an asshole to me you might as well go home." Undyne grumbled. Sans knew he well enough to know what she actually meant. Go home and rest. Sans just grinned at her before spinning around on his heel.  
"I'd rather stay here and annoy you." He said with a grin, shoving his hands in the pockets of his pants. They were long brown things, tucked into the top of his black-and-white boots. An old, blue hoodie was tied around his waist, and he was just as reluctant to part with it as he would be with... say... his hand.

Actully, besides his skull, it was impossible to make out any bone on the skeleton. His hands were covered by purple gloves, and the arms by long white sleeves. Over that was a light grey, short sleeved shirt, and over that, around his neck, was a bandana the same purple as his gloves.

Undyne scoffed, shaking her head. She seemed to do that a lot around Sans. They made their way to and through Waterfall with no incidents and their usual banter. Sans could easily teleport the both of them to the dump and back, but he enjoyed these walks with Undyne through Waterfall. Maybe it's because he hadn't been here before everything went to crap, so the damage here meant nothing to him. He could enjoy the walks through Waterfall without any emotional backlash towards the duller-then-normal glow of the Echo-flowers. He could ignore the fact that they weren't actually whispering anything, besides the off bits of Sans and Undyne's conversation that they caught. He could ignore the boarded up windows. He'd always wondered Waterfall like an innocent child, not baring any notice to the worse of parts of the caverns because he had never seen just how beautiful they had been before now.

Not that he liked the way it was now, but his lack of sentiment for Waterfall just made it easier for him here. Sure he had a slight twine of guilt in his stomach, and sure he wished it had even half as much life as Snowdin did, but the place meant almost nothing to him if not for the trips to the Dump.

Undyne had always been a bit more solemn here, having grown up in waterfall and lived here until just five months ago. Sans, somehow, always managed to distract her though. Distract her from the emptiness, the darkness. She'd even noticed how much harder he tried whenever they started walking closer to her old house, and she was thankful for that.

Finally arriving at the Dump, Sans turned to Undyne with an excited grin before dashing ahead. Or well, he tried too. Undyne had a webbed hand latched around his scarf quicker then she even started saying "no."

When Sans turned to her with a confused- and frankly pissed off- expression, she just shook her head sternly.  
"I don't want you rushing ahead and passing out again." She said, a hint of duty to her voice.

Sans knew that she'd taken it upon herself to look after him - he was five years younger than her after all- but sometimes it just got so... patronising. Still, he humoured her, and waited beside her patently.

He'd always been rather patent, it was his soul trait after all. Sure, these last few months he'd had his off moments, and they did seem to tucker him out, but how people always rushed off to do things had always been a wonder to Sans his entire life. Even his brother was a mystery in that sense.

When Undyne stepped into the clearing dump, the water flooding the floor almost reaching the top of her long, purple combat boots, Sans followed her happily. He made a point to always be a meter behind her, and Undyne let a small growl rumble in her throat.

"Go ahead then." She sighed reluctantly. She didn't think she could hear any dogs anyway. Sans grinned and started rapidly teleporting around the room, digging through one trash pile after the next in his search of loot (and the few stray VHS tapes for Phillis of course).

Undyne was more calm in her search, carefully picking through the piles of rubbish, smiling to herself when she found something someone back home would like before placing it carefully in her bag. They went on like that for almost ten minutes before a loud:  
"HOLY SHIT!" from Sans.

Undyne's head shot up instantly and she ran to track him down, finding that he'd walked around the corner to where the more clumped trash piles were. When she saw him, he was hunched over something half submerged in the water, and he pried it out with his magic.

"Do you know what this is?" He cried, his heart-eye flashing in his excitement. He'd turned so fast that, with his magic following him, it almost hit Undyne in the side of the head. She ducked out of the way before stepping backwards a bit to study what had gotten the skeleton so happy.

It was weird to look at, and somewhat hard to describe. If you didn't know what it was, you wouldn't. And as Undyne didn't, she shook her head in confusion at Sans.

He gapped at her.  
"It's a guitar!" He stressed, dropping the... thing... into his hands and running his gloved hands carefully against the wet wood. "And it's in pretty good shape. I mean... for something down here this is incredible." Using his magic to pick it up again, it twisted slowly in the air so he could assess it better.

Undyne didn't know what he was looking for on the strange thing, but watched Sans as he seemed to toy with it. He let the... the guitar... fall into his hands again, and began plucking at one of the strings running along it. It made a sound, and Undyne finally realised that it was supposed to be an instrument of some sort.

She watched in amazement as he closed his eye-sockets and begun strumming at it, fingers gliding along the neck of the instrument to make a fairly pleasant tune. When he opened his eyes and looked at her expectantly, she just shrugged.  
"I mean, it's cool?" Was all she could utter.  Sans just stared at her for a moment.

"Damn straight it's cool! I'm gonna have to learn this again and put on a show!" Undyne watched him for a second before going off to her own thing. Sans did the same thing, and started becoming much more thorough.

 

All in all, by the end of the day, both monsters had a pretty hefty haul in their rucksacks, and Sans had hung the guitar over his shoulder (it had come with a band of sorts that sans had explained was to make it harder to drop it).

They made it back to Snowdin without any issues, besides the fact that as soon as they got back home RottenKid marched right up to Sans and sniffed suspiciously at the guitar around his back.  
"What is that?" He asked, frustrated in his confusion. Sans chucked and rested a rand on the small monsters head, easily moving him out of his way.

"Tonight's entertainment!" Sans called over his shoulder, making his way to tell Phillis it was ok to go home and hand over his haul of VHS tapes.


	3. Chapter 2

It has actually been a few months until anything new happened. Honestly... things were good. Really good actually. No Dogs showed up during Dumpster Diving, none even came sniffing near the borders of Snowdin.

It was so quite, in fact, that sans probably made one of his stupidest decisions ever.

"Undyne!" He called, sliding down the railing of the staircase and gliding along the floor. Undyne, who had spent the last few weeks going over battle strategies was still hunched over the table. Her long hair was hanging in a ratty mess around her, shielding her face from view.

"Things have been quiet. I'm going out Dumpster Diving if you want in." There was a long while of silence that made sans think Undyne was asleep, but she eventually waved him off tiredly. When she turned around again she exhaled.

"Stay safe." She grumbled. She'd been ready to launch into the same rant she'd given sans a thousand times this last month; about how quiet things were and how little she trusted it, but she knew sans was going to do his own thing either way. "If anything happens you teleport your ass back here ASAP." She sounded hung over. Maybe she was, who knew. She'd been a mess lately.

Sans just rolled his eyes and left, his bulky ruck-sack hanging over his shoulders. Walking out the door, he was instantly met by RottenKid.  
"Where are you going?" The troublesome kid demanded, standing on the one step that wouldn't let Sans pass. With a growl, he teleport-ed behind the kid.   
"I'm Dumpster Diving." Rot explained before throwing a smug look over his shoulder. "Don't kill the mood Runt." RK growled, scurrying to keep up with the skeleton.  
"You shouldn't go alone. That's stupid." he continued to demand. Sans stopped walking and turned to RK with a devilish grin.   
"Almost sounds like you care if I get done in." Sans chided. RK was left without anything to say, all his complaints dying on his tongue before he finally settled for: "There wouldn't be any more music if you left. I can't even remember the last time I heard any."

Sans didn't expect the sentiment, and crouched down to the kid's size. he reached out a gloved hand but the younger monster flinched away. with a soft smile, sans reached out again, RK letting him this time. His hand rested on what would be RK's shoulder if he had them, and his voice was soft as he spoke again.  
"I'll come back. And I'll dedicate my entire next show to you." As soon as he was done, he stood up and shot RK another playful look. "I mean, that's all you wanted right?"

RK grumbled, letting sans walk past him.  His eyes were unnaturally large for once, not narrowed as they usually were. He seemed so... sad. Probably due to the horrid feeling in his gut. Something bad was going to happen. Something really bad.

 

 

 

Sans hadn't gotten as much of a haul as he would have liked. Nothing, really. As he walked home, all he had to show for his trip was a tan bandana with the Delta Rune stitched into it. Sans smiled at it before shoving it in his hoodie pocket, having been toying with it the entire way back to Snowdin.

In such a daze at the object, Sam's nearly missed the crunching in the snow ahead of him, having just stepped out of the Waterfall Caverns. He didn't though, and was quick to arm himself. Sure, it could easily have been Undyne or such on patrol.

Sans didn't quite trust his luck though.

  
In a fighting stance, Sans faltered when he saw who was before him. He was so tall, his eyes so cold, his blue-green armour glinting coldly. Sans gulped.

Papyrus.

The taller Skeleton watched Sans for a long while before he smirked, a blue glow appearing near his hand before a long, glowing blue bone manifested. Papyrus held it like a weapon, pointing one end at Sans. At Sans' eye.

Sans was frozen. He hadn't seen Papyrus in so many months. His big brother who had raised him. His big brother who had just... left him.

His big brother was right there. As soon as that fact clicked in his head, Sans noticed he'd taken a subconscious step forward, slack jawed. Righting himself, he took that step backwards again, standing straight.

Something about Papyrus showing up out of the blue after so long wasn't right.

Everything about papyrus showing up out of the blue like this wasn't right. He'd left sans. For Chara!

"Oh little brother you're still so small. Even with so much magic in you." The way Papyrus spoke wasn't... wasnt Papyrus at all. Sure he had that cockiness he'd always had but it was so cold. There was no friendly teasing to it this was straight torment. "If it were up to me I wouldn't think you were worthy of the half soul." Sans had zoned out, not catching that last part. His brain was in over drive. His soul was vibrating so hard in his chest he could hear the dull purr of it in his skull.

He'd only just managed to catch the way Papyrus's eyes glinted so maliciously. Only just heard the final "Oh well," before his brother lunged at him. Within a split second, he'd teleported himself a few meters away. He remembered he'd promised Undyne to go right home, but he never really kept his promises. He'd always forget in the heat of the moment.

With the force of the attack, Papyrus had lost his balance. When sans turned around again, it was to see the older skeleton dusting himself off.  
"Cowardice, little brother." Papyrus drawled, standing up. The bone that he'd had had lodged itself scarily deep into the snow, and it dissipated before reappearing in Papyrus' hand in a wisp of blue magic. "It's not a good look on you."

Papyrus lunged again, and San's teleported behind him once again.  
"But I guess that's the way you've always been."  
"I don't want to do this!"  
"Of course you don't wanna do this." Sans had never seen Papyrus move so fast. He'd been a few meters away, but in a split second was already inches from sans' face.

Opting to jump out of the way instead of teleport again, Sans summoned a massive bone just in time to deflect Papyrus' attack. The bone itself was almost the length of Sans, and as thick as his skull. It acted well as a shield, but Sans was somewhat trapped behind it. His arms were crossed in front of his face and his eye sockets were screwed shut as Papyrus sent down a flurry of attacks down on the bone.  
Sans found himself wanted nothing more than to cry. To go home. He wanted this to be over. He didn't want to be here!

A sickening crack sounded before the bone snapped in half, and sans didn't have time to move out of the way before Papyrus brought his own bone down, smashing hard against Sans' skull.

When the smaller skeleton fell, he skidded to the ground. When He tried to sit up, his vision was blurry, and he felt winded.

Maybe not winded in the way something with lungs would feel. He was more struggling to get a control of his magic.

There was an uncomfortable static electricity in the air around Sans as sparks of red flew through the air, making his vision all the worse.

Clutching his skull, he couldn't see as Papyrus sauntered up too him. He couldn't see as yet another blue bone materialised in his brother's hands. He couldn't see as his older brother brought it high above his head, ready to strike.

Relying on the sensations of the magic in the air, Sans rolled clumsily out of the way. Shaking off his skull, the pain giving way to adrenaline, to DETERMINATION, Sans began to put up some sort of fight.

Vision clearer, he dodged Papyrus' attack by a hair.   
"Stop dodging and attack me like you mean it!" As Papyrus swung again, Sans stood up straight, bracing himself. He knew what he was going to do. He'd been paying attention to Papyrus and he wanted this over with.

Paps is always disoriented after a big attack. I just have to dodge this last one, knock him down and bolt.

Sans watched as the glowing blue attack swung at him, and he tried to teleport just before it hit him. But that last precious second stretched an eternity it seemed. Sans was hyper aware of how close the bone was, and focused all his being to teleport him to the point just behind Papyrus.

But when he tried, his eye just spewed out a pitiful stream of magic, and Sans only had a nanosecond to panic before he was smashed away by the powerful bone attack.

Using all his effort to stand up, Sans flexed his hand, trying to summon some kind of attack. Nothing but purple sparks.

Sans stared down at his empty hands with wide, terrified eyes before he got struck down again. The blows kept coming. Papyrus seemed insatiable. There was no way he was going to stop was there.

Even under all the pain, Sans found himself feeling impatient. All he wanted was the fight to end, but with that last thought he felt an amazing amount of energy leave him. Realising that using his magic would only get him killed quicker, Sans could do little more than push himself up.

His slender arms shook under his weight and he crumbled again. Papyrus walked over, the snow crunching underneath his boots. He scoffed at Sans' efforts, and kicked him swiftly in the rips. The force of the blow sent Sans on his back and he spluttered. All the determination in his soul was just holding him together at this point. There wasn't enough in the half soul to get him up. All he could do was watch as Papyrus armed an attack.

With the large, glowing bone reared above papyrus' head, Sans noticed with certainty that these were his last moments. So he swallowed, looking his brother in the eyes.  
"I love you." He managed to croak out. And too his amazement, Papyrus...

Hesitated.

For a second. A sliver of a second, Sans saw how his brother's cold eyes widened, warming. How his shoulders slackened the tiniest bit. But it was short lived. So much so that sans thought he'd imagined it. Almost instantly, Papyrus's eyes were cold again and he was swinging down. Sans closed his eyes tightly. This was it.

The death blow.

 

 

"I can't do it Undyne! I have to go!"   
"Sans don't be stupid!" Just a second ago she was so defeated. She was patching sans up now and fussing over the crack in his skull. But it didn't matter. Healing magic didn't heal it. It was there to stay. Now she was so angry that she had to walk away. She'd filled in most of the gaping hole, but that crack just wouldn't go.  
"He's still in there." Sans whined.

 

 

But it never hit him. Opening his eyes, Sans took a while to make sense of what was happening. Papyrus' attack was a hair's width away from smashing San's skull in any further. After a long second, his reason kicked in and he scuttled away from the attack like a crab. Looking up at Papyrus, he noticed the vines that were holding the enraged skeleton in place.

 

 

"You can't do it alone!" Undyne demanded and Sans sighed.  
"I met someone who can help me."   
"You met someone new? How do you know if you can trust them?"  
"I just do! We both need something from Chara after all. We'll work together."  
"What about you and me? We can work together! We have The Seekers on our side." At that Sam's scoffed.

"Oh stop it." He growled. "We both know this is a glorified day-care centre. You're so busy playing house here that we haven't done anything but have a few border skirmishes with Lesser Dog!" Undyne looked like someone had driven one of her spears through her chest. But sans wasn't finished. "I love you Undyne and I love everyone here but I can't just sit around and play guitar for a few hopeless monsters when I can be saving them."

 

  
Papyrus tugged against the restraints, but they weren't giving. It gave Sans enough time to notice the flower tangled among Papyrus' bones. He looked concentrated, but when he met Sans' eye he gave a strained smile.

"Go. I'll handle this." The voice was little more that a high squeak, and sounded oddly cheery.  
"But-" Sans took a step forward, but as he did Papyrus managed to rip himself free, the roots snapping. Instantly the taller Skeleton rounded on Sans and started approaching him.

A small thud sounded out before he turned around furiously, and sans was able to notice the flower armed with a dozen floating bullets.  
"I got this! Teleport to the ruin door!"  
"Bu-"  
"Just do it Sans!"

Sans gulped before obeying the flower. There was the slightest window in time where he could see the vines wrap around Papyrus again, easily picking him up and throwing him into a tree. Sans was astounded, but knew he had to leave. Using all his willpower, he was glad his magic held out. In a matter of seconds, he was safe in Snowdin forest.

With his last reserves of adrenaline, Sans threw a magic furled tantrum. The only problem was, his magic wouldn't obey him.

He tried. He tried to rip trees from the ground and he tried to destroy everything around him. He tried. He tried to send the snow around him in a flurry. He tried. He tried so hard to make a simple snow ball.

He tried.

 

He tried so hard to feel around him with his magic. Going back to his basics and feeling the area around him. To grab something.

 

 

None of it worked. He fell to the ground. Tears streaked his face and red sparks flew through the air from his damaged eye. And he was gone, slipping, falling. In other terms, he was unconscious.

"Go then. Get the hell out of here and leave with your new best pal." Undyne' voice was a harsh hiss that felt like a knife in Sans' back, but he wasn't about to stop.

Pushing open the front door of his old house, Sans looked down at the base of the steps. There was the flower, a sympathetic smile on his face.

"Are you ready?" He asked, voice high pitched. Sans stepped over him, wanting to get off the porch of the house. He gave Snowdin a once over. Everyone was in theirs houses.

It was late after all. Sans had been clocked out most of the day. He wasn't sure what time Undyne had even found him, or how. He fingered the crack in his skull. When he was found there was a gaping hole there, but Undyne had got a healer or two to help out.

The crack seemed permanent.

Finally, after taking in the sights of his home, he turned back to the flower.

"Probably as ready as I'm gonna get."


End file.
